Around the house

If you have a small lead-in to your living space, a landing or a verandah, a little "shelving" against the wall helps you get more organised.

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August 23, 2010

UPDATED: August 26, 2010 14:49 IST

For your convenience (and your pet's too)If you have a small lead-in to your living space, a landing or a verandah, a little "shelving" against the wall helps you get more organised. For those who're finicky about bringing in "outside" footwear into the house, this provides the perfect place to change into house slippers. Your puppy's belongings can find a home next to your own. Along with your scarves and umbrellas, you can hang up his towels and leash. The rack below works well for holding his jar of chewys, brushes and toys.

A vibrant edgePerk up an all-pastel interior with blinds and accessories in a vivid shade. This homemaker has brought out the deep red of the blinds by using muted tones on the surfaces, and ivory chairs with simple metallic frames. The blinds may be changed to a colour to suit the season, with little effort and cost (warm oranges and crimsons for winter; cool aquas and emeralds for summer). You can throw off colour echoes in other decor elements to create a harmonious palette.

Casual diningDo away with the "straight-jacketed" chairs around your dining table and create a feeling of expansiveness. This homemaker has simply joined two rectangular tables along the length of the room, towards the wall, and flanked them with benches. Upholstery makes for comfort seating, while the feeling of space is enhanced by the use of minimum-fuss table linen and matching colour on the furniture and wall. The low-level antique lighting adds an interest point to this tableau of easy chic.

Your makeup organiserDon't have the space to place a separate dresser? Get your carpenter to create a drawer with compartments to neatly place all your makeup essentials. This can be part of the cabinet under your washbasin, inside the bathroom. Create separate "cubicles" for eye liners and lash curlers; hairbrushes and combs; makeup brushes; lipsticks; body creams and moisturisers. Make sure you measure each product, and get your carpenter to construct the slots to ensure exact fits. You will you be well-organised, and better able to cope if rushed in the mornings.

Bathe smartCabinet Control: To manage your shelves, use cane trays to group similar things, say liquid soaps and lotions; place smaller "musts" such as cotton buds and swabs inside jars and bottles. Baskets in the bottom shelf can hold extra towels and tissue-paper rolls. Your hair dryer can hang out of sight, on a stand fixed on the inside of the cabinet door.

Shower easy: Use this convenient metal rack, easily available at any quality departmental store, to hold all your "bathing musts". So your shampoos, soaps, loofahs and colognes are all within reach when you're showering - you save space and there's no need to travel over slippery bathroom tiles to fetch them.

Make spaceThis is especially fun for a younger child. Get your mason to cull out a small open "cave" in a wall that has space behind it. Create a play or sitting nook in this niche. Ask your carpenter to create drawers below this shelf to hold her things. If there's room, you may add another shelf at the top for her favourite frames, toys and knick-knacks. A beanbag or rocking chair next to this "seat" can make the space complete. This works well in a small house where you may not be able to give your child a full room to herself.

Junior's denIf you have a generous children's room, use it to hone your child's creativity. Get your mason to construct a wall (could be a light gypsum or plywood one) and install a "half doorway" (around 5ft tall - so that you too can bend and enter) to create a room within a room. This can be her playroom, where she can do her own thing - play with dolls, set up a tent, or call friends over for a private evening. If you have two children, you can divide the room in half, and this opening can act as a perfect "communication door" for the siblings. They get to enjoy the privacy of their own room, and yet stay connected.

Work while you babysitPlanning to work from home so that you can look after your child? While you organise your own workspace, figure out a "grown up" working space for your child as well in a manner that both of you could be working together. Get a mini desk and chair where she can sit and play with her building blocks or jigsaw puzzles, read a book or paint. Place it right behind, or next to you, so that you can keep an eye on her. But keep the desk facing the other way, so that she doesn't get distracted looking at you.

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